Car-coupling



entering the head; and Fig. 3 is a similar sec- UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

DANIEL F. MACCARTHY, OF ST. PAUL; MINNESOTA.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 411,819, dated October1, 1889. Application filed July 22, 1889. $erial No. 318,245. (Nomodel.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL F. MACCARTHY, of St. Paul, in the county ofRamsey and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Automatic Oar-Couplers, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in couplers for ordinary railwayfreight-cars, its object being to provide means for automaticallyengaging an ordinary coupling-link without using a coupling-pin and itconsists, generally, in the construction and combination h ereinafterdescribed, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure 1. is a front elevation of 11] y improved coupler shown attachedto a section of a car. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of thecoupler, showing a link 1t io111 showing the coupling-latch engaging thein a.

In the drawings, 2 represents the couplerhead of ordinary outward formand having the throat or slot 3 to receive the link #1.

5 is the drawbar, preferably supported underneath the car-body by meansof the straps 6 and the cross-bar 7 and with suitable rear support asordinarily constructed. The coupler-head has a suitable interior recessand a slotted opening through the upper and lower walls of the same forthe play of the coupling latch or hook 9. Pivoted near the rear of saidrecess and a little above the level of a link entering said head is thecouplinghook or latch 0, having the hook 10 and the arm 1 1, providedwith the enlarged and rounded shoulder 12, which is interposed in frontof the opening 3 when the latch is in its raised position to receive alink. The hole 14 in the catch receiving the pivot 13 is preferablyelongated into a short slot in the direction of the throat of thecoupler-head when the latch is in its raised position, as shown in Fig.2. This is to allow longitudinal movement of the latch, as hereinafterdescribed.

Rigidly secured to the rear wall of the coupler-head. recess is thespring 15, hearing against the latch and forcing it into a forwardposition, and in the interior front wall of the coupler-head recess,beneath the linkstands immediately in front of the opening 3,

so that a link entering the head in any position or angle will strikeupon it, and, forcing the latch back against the tension of thespring'15, will force the arm 11 downward and the hook 10 intoengagement with the link, thus completing the coupling and placing theparts in the position shown in Fig. 3. This action of coupling is whollyautomatic, as the link is forced into the draw-head by the momentum of acar carrying the same. In order, however, to readily perform theoperation of car-coupling by hand, I prefer to provide the mechanismhereinafter described.

Arranged beneath the draw-bar, slightly back of the coupler-head andtransversely of the car, is the shaft 17, preferably journaled in thestraps 6 and having hand-wheels 18 on either side of the car. Rigidlysecured upon said shaft, directly underneath the drawbar, is the doubledrum 19.- Secured by one end to said drum and passing upward through thedraw-bar and over the sheaves 20 and 21, journaled therein, and by itsother end attached to the hook 10 of the latch, is the chain 22.Attached to the other side of said drum and led therefrom in an oppositedirection around said drum from the chain 22 is the chain 23, attachedby its other end to the arm 11 of the latch. These chains havesufiicient slack to allow freedom of movement of the latch in automaticcoupling without movement of the shaft 17 but when it is desired to movethe latch in either direction the shaft 17 is turned by one of thehand-wheels in the necessary direction to pull Whichever one of thechains 22 or 23 is required to be operated to give the desired movementto the latch.

One valuable feature in my invention is the means for elevating ordepressing the outer end of a link coupled in the head to any desiredangle to guide the link into an opposite coupler-head of differentheight from the one in which it is carried. 'This-is done by a slightpull upon the chain 23 by means of the shaft 17 when the latch is in theposition shown in Fig. 3, whereby the link is tilted to the angle shownby the dotted lines 24:, or by a similar pull upon the chain 22,, thelatch is raised slightly, and the overbalancing-weight of the outer endof the link tilts it downward into the position shown by the dottedlines 25.

In order to prevent the accidental uncoupling of cars by any unusual jaror shock, a transverse hole 26 may be arranged in the draw-head abovethe hook part of the latch, into which a pin 27 may be inserted to holdthe latch in engagement with the link. The space between the hook andarm of the latch is sufficient to allow the same flexibility in the.coupling and play of the parts as in the ordinary link-and-pin coupling.In the case of the breaking loose of the draw-bar from the car the chain22 will act automatically to raise the latch and unconple the cars,which is a great advantage in case of the train breaking in two. Thisform of coupling is much stronger than the ordinary link-and-pincoupling, and has the advantage of having no detachable parts, exceptingthe link. The spring 15 serves also to always keep thelatch in positionin readiness to couple with a link. In addition to the automatic actionof the coupler and its operation by means of the shaft and hand-wheelsthe operations of uncoupling may, if necessary, be performed by hand byraising the hook of the latch by means of the projecting point 26, whichis readily grasped by the hand.

I claim- 7 1. The combination, with a coupler-head,

of a coupling-latch pivoted therein above its medial line, having aslotted pivot-hole allowing forward and backward movement of the latchin the head, and having a downwardly=projecting hook for engaging thecoupling-link, and a forwardly-proj ecting arm beneath said hook,arranged when the latch is raised to be interposed in front of the"opening in the coupling-head and to be struck by an entering link, asocket in the coupler-head to receive the end of said arm andsupport itin its raised position, and a spring arranged behind said latch andbear- 7 ing upon the same, and adapted to force said latch forward inthe coupler-head, substantially as described.

2. In a car-coupler, the combination, with thecoupler-head 2, providedwit-h a suitable recess and a vertical longitudinal slot through thesame, of the latch 9, pivoted in said recess above the center of thehead, having an elongated pivot-hole and provided with the hook 10, andthe arm 11, having the shoulder 12, the recess 16, arranged in the frontwall of the interior of the coupler-head beneath the link-opening andadapted to receive the arm 11, and the spring 15, secured to theinterior rear wall of the coupler-head and bear ing against said latch,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination, with a coupler-head having a suitablevertically-slotted interior recess, and socket 16 in the front wallthereof beneath the link-opening, of the pivoted latch 9,.having theelongated pivot-hole 14, the hook 10, the arm 11, and the shoulder 12,the spring 15, arranged in the rear of the coupler-head recess andbearing against said latch, the drum-carrying shaft 17, arrangedtransversely underneath the draw-bar, and the chains 22 and 23, eachsecured by one end to said drum and wound oppositely thereupon, andhaving their other ends socured, respectively, to the hook 10 on the arm11 of the coupling-latch, substantially as described.

4:. The combination, with a coupler-head having a vertically-swingingpivoted latch adapted to engage a coupling-link and by its pressure uponthe end of said link to raise and lower the projecting end of the linkto any desired angle, of a drum-carryin g shaft journaled transverselyunderneath the draw-bar, chains running from said drum to said latch andadapted as the drum is rotated in one direction to raise the latch, andwhen rotated in the opposite direction to lower said latch,substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a coupler-head, of a latch loosely pivotedtherein having a downwardly-projecting link-hook, and aforwardly-projecting arm underneath said hook provided with a shoulderarranged to be interposed in front of the link-opening in the couplerhead when the latch is in its raised position,a spring adapted to forcesaid latch forward in the head, and a socket in said head to receive andsupport said arm as forced forward by said spring, by means of which anentering link will strike upon the shoulder of said arm and force saidarm backward from the socket, bringing the hook into engage ment withthe link, which by its pressure upon the same supports the outer end ofsaid link at any desired angle, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 13th day of July,1889.

DANIEL F. MACOARTHY.

In presence of- T. D. MERWIN, BESSIE Boo'rH.

